MAB Q&A

You tube is a treasure trove of information on about anything, particularly music. I am very interested in the "backstory" on songs, techniques, how things come into business. There are several videos of McCartney explaining his process and the development of the Beatles. One on that same page I linked, has him speaking at a college. He demonstrates the things they were learning when they were fourteen and fifteen, then the inversions and changes they made all the time as they went on. They were classic experimenters. He said that BLACKBIRD started as a take off on a finger excercise from a Bach piece. He and George used to do this excercise and then he started using it in other songs. About the third or fourth song he tried to write is where Blackbird came from.

I've been reading this, too, Ott (Audible.com--saving my eyeballs for work).  It is absolutely fascinating.  I like to listen to it, and then, when a particular song is referenced, I jump onto my iTunes subscription and play the song.  That makes it a really complete experience (plus it takes me back to the days of my youth).

This is fascinating, MAB.  Another technique that I sort of recently discovered for myself is having a woman sing a song that I originally wrote for a man.  For some songs, that can be really transformative, with resonances that you might not otherwise get.

That happens a good deal David. A song a lot have talked about here and on songwriter sites is HOUSE THAT BUILT ME, which was a huge hit for Miranda Lambert. That song was actually not pitched to Miranda. It was pitched to her husband at the time, Blake Shelton. He had it for a while trying to decide whether to cut it. Miranda at the time was not selling well and in danger of losing her record deal. So Blake gave it to her in order to pump her sales up. Worked very well. 

Not much new here in FL. I have only written 1 song since Frank Brown. A silly drinking song. And, I'm still working on a song (for almost 2 months I think) writing with M's. I may have been to 1 open mic since Frank Brown. But the coolest experience so far was the past Thursday when I drove up to Lake City to catch a Ronny McKinley show. I met Ronny briefly at FBISF. Basically just long enough to introduce myself and learn he lived in Lake City. Ronny spent 5 years traveling with and writing with Hank Cochran. When I finally got  chance to talk to him, he didn't really remember me, but when I told him we had met at FBISF, there was a connection. He introduced me to his wife and several other folks there. He was very excited and appreciative that someone he had met at FBISF actually took time to drive up to Lake City to see him. It was a great show, in spite of the huge loud crowd and the fact I could only find a seat at the far end of the bar in the back of the room. He will be down here close to Ocala later this month, and I'll be there to see him again (I hope).

phil g.

DONT PANIC .!

The gremlins have not taken over.

as PREVIOUSY ANNOUNCED, you read that announcement didn't you? *grin*

We are changing server hosts tomorrow, Monday . This might cause a few anomalies .
If something strange happens, wait a while and try again where "a while" means a couple of hours .

NOTE: this not a plot by North Korea to get a Premium Plus membership for free so Kim Il Jung can upload his musical talents with a video of his latest haircut.

Top 25 Country songs of 2015 


I have decided not to complain about country music any more since I haven't even heard the vast majority of these tunes (or the artists!) -- I am way out of touch.

THE  GREMLINS WERE FINALLY  ROOTED OUT  BUT NOT WITHOUT A STRUGGLE  AND  it looks like they  invaded my cap lock  button.

I am about 1/2 way through RS's top 25 songs and the trend is very pop and very urban.  Cosmopolitan Country meets the beats!  No complaints from me, though.  One man's trash is another ....

Kevin, thanks for the link. The one I listen to is http://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs. This is the current top 25 songs on billboard. I'll have to go listen to the songs on your link. I looked at them, and see a lot of songs I don't remember, by title. Including Alan Jackson's song. Which I don't remember hearing at all this year.

Now, interesting enough, it seems to really depends on where you live and what station you listen too. Years ago, when I lived in Denver, I was working in the DC area and would drive to Atlantic City. Several times on that drive I heard a song by Jeffery Steel which I never heard in Denver. The latest is I was listening to a Gainesville station and heard a Frankie Ballard song, "Young and crazy" I think 3 or 4 times in the span of a month. Then, I switched to a Gainesville/Ocala station and heard the song every day for the next month.

Anyway, I have bookmarked your link and will listen to the ones I don't remember. Thanks,

phil g.

A page back when we were talking about the song, "Oh Arizona", I briefly mentioned how great lyrics "show" you the story instead of just "telling" you the story. So, If I may, to respond to a good friend of mine, I would like to re-visit that and start another discussion. To me, even though you might include visuals in your lyrics, there is still a significant difference between telling and showing a story.

So, what I would like to do is take 2 lines from a current #2 song, "Die A Happy Man", by Thomas Rhett, co-written with Sean Douglas and Joe Spargur,  and use those lines, along with 2 I will make up, to help explain the difference between tell and show.

My 2 lines:

Baby that red dress sure looks good on you

Oh and your black one makes you look sexy too

The 2 lines from the song:

Baby that red dress brings me to my knees

Oh but that black dress makes it hard to breath

So, if you analyze my 2 lines, I use the visual of the dress colors to "tell" you what she looks like. Yes, the visuals help you see this girl, but so what. They're still just telling you what she looks like. They don't really "put you in the picture".

Now, analyze the song's lines. The same red dress, black dress visual, but look how it is used. They don't just "make her look good" The red one "brings me to my knees", and the black one, "makes it hard to breath". All of a sudden, the listener is IN the picture, NOT just looking at it.

And there folks is the difference between "telling" and "showing", and the difference between "good" and "great" lyrics.

phil g.

Speaking of billboard, here is a link to the article for their top 10 albums and 10 songs of 2015:  http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/year-in-music-2015/6806125/best-country-albums-2015-critics-picks (These are "critic's picks", so it doesn't mean sales (necessarily).

"Die A Happy Man"  -- nice tune, but I wouldn't really call it a paragon of showing not telling.  Maybe those two lines, but that's about it (except for the video -- that shows a lot!).  You know a song has visuals when you can see every scene being acted out.  If you can, it's showing and not telling.  Scott's Arizona is still one of the best pieces of work I have seen.  It's OK if you think it is a turkey, it either moves you or it doesn't -- no big deal either way.

That  applies to all tracks regardless of text  books , formulae, gurus  because  you "buy' music  because YOU like it.

The exception is if you are trying to convince someone else to spend THEIR  money

Jw

Well Kevin, I just went back to look at the lyrics of, "Die A Happy Man". You're right! The song as a whole is not a good example of what I'm trying to explain as the difference between showing and telling. As a matter of fact, It is basically just those 2 lines I dug out. AND, further more, when I chose those 2 lines, those were the only 2 lines I had remembered from that song. Don't even know how I remembered the title now. LOL!

But it doesn't really matter. What I'm trying to say is, yes, there are a lot of songs that "show you" what the artist is "telling" you. But they don't always pull you into the emotion of the song. In those 2 lines, the visuals are tied to the emotion of an action, which if you've ever experienced that feeling when you see your girl friend/ significant other, you can relate to it on a personal level, and in your mind, you will remember that time you were in the scene.

But you are right. The rest of that song reads like, eh, and is kind of cliché-ick. Like I said, those were the only 2 lines I remembered, and didn't even remember the melody or grove.

phil g.

O.K. let me try to say it this way. Let's take just the first line, "Baby that red dress brings me to my knees". I will tell you the "red dress", or what ever color or shape dress you use there, is NOT the "visual". It's just a picture. Think about that for a minute. Use the picture of a dress in any lyric you want to make up. It's still just  a picture of a dress. NOT the "visual". Now in that line, take out the dress and replace it with anything. A pencil, a hair braid, a bracelet; Whatever "picture" you want, then finish the line with, "brings me to my knees" Now you have a "visual" ACTION that brings the listener right into the song. Make sense?

phil g.

I think I get it, Phil. How's this?

Its getting  close to that time of year again. I will be off line for a few days because my daughter is flyingo ver  from NZ with her new  hubby and has booked a country  cottage with  no ph  no wifi  so  we  can have a family Christmas together with no interruptions .

 I hope you all have a safe happy and healthy Christmas with those you care about .

 I assume MAB is around  somewhere  but  up to  his capo  in "stuff"
Keep the  homefires burning, post  plenty of news reports, posts about contentious issues and   dont let the rap creep in.  :)  well maybe some if its   very good.
Will someone  define good  rap?

 Jw

Back in the 1300's during the black plague, folks used to say, "the only good rap is a dead rap". But it is creeping back in. It's everywhere! It can't be killed!

BTW John, Just to let you know, the e-mail notifications for this thread are working again. And so is the little red flag at the top of the page. Many thanks to who ever fixed it!!

phil g.

Hello folks,

Hi everybody! I hope you got your Christmas shopping all done. If not, you better hurry up! As MAB said, I put together a band to back up the single release of "24 Notes" that MAB and I wrote. Since I couldn't get it cut in Nashville, I'm putting it out myself because this song needs to be out there. I have a team of guys who are pros at advertising and marketing, including in the cyber world. The release is on 1/19/16 and we are ramping up our promo campaign. Sometimes the song is more important than who does it and I believe that is the case with this song. If anyone is interested in following what I'm doing, I'll put links to our website and FaceBook page. If you're on facebook, don't be afraid to like our page and maybe share it with YOUR friends. I hope all your Holidaze are filled with fun and love!

http://www.facebook.com/boothillbandits

http://www.boothillbandits.com

Boot Hill Bandits. 76 likes · 90 talking about this. Boot Hill Bandits is a Modern Outlaw Country band with Classic Southern Rock roots.

Thank you Ed. And for reminding me about the name BOOTHILL BANDITS. Sounds like a cool group. Thanks for including me.

Yea, Ed! We've added a teaser to Marc's homepage on his website. Love this song!!!!

I'm trying to do something that I shouldn't be able to do, but I'm compelled to do it. This is a unique song and a unique situation. Wether we succeed or fall flat, it won't be because we didn't do everything we could and put in the hard work. In the event that the song gets some attention, I'll have a band all ready to go out and support it. We will be doing a media blitz for the release. All the press releases will go out the day before the release of the single, with the tag "24 hours to 24 Notes!" We'll see how this experiment works out, so any support we can get is greatly appreciated. The hardest thing to do is to get the word out and have it spread through people who believe in the song, what it means to so many, and what we're doing, but I remain optimistic. Good thing I put in 20 years of doing Promotion for Major and Indie Record Labels! That helps. LOL! Wish me luck!

Well, even though I'm not sure I believe in luck, BEST OF LUCK GUYS!!! Seriously, when you have a great song, and an artist who believes in the song, it isn't luck that sells the song. It is the song and the artist. You guys have both. I think you will do very well with this one.

phil g.